ABSTRACT
Rearrangement of V, D, and J segments of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene with inserted or deleted nucleotides within rearranged segments makes unique hypervariable regions [CDR-3]. These regions can be used for evaluation of B cell clonality for the purpose of molecular diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma [NHL] and for confirmatory diagnosis in suspicious cases. In this study, samples of 42 patients were collected from Taleghani, Baqhiyatalah, and Aliasghar hospitals; out of this number, there were 22 patients with diagnosis of B cell NHL, 10 with reactive hyperplasia, and 10 with malignant lymphoma. After DNA extraction from formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues, PCR was done using consensus primers for amplification of CDR-3 region. PCR products were analyzed after heteroduplex analysis using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver stain. Results Clonal patterns in group 1 [B cell NHL], 2 [reactive and follicular hyperplasia], and 3 [morphological diagnosis without immunohistochemistry] were observed in 77.2%, 0%, and 70% of patients, respectively. Our findings are compatible with other international studies with minor differences. The diagnosis of B-cell lymphoid malignancy can frequently be substantiated by detecting clonal immunoglobulin heavy chain [IGH] gene rearrangement